Overview

Heze is located in South Shandong Province. It borders on Jiangsu, Anhui, and Henan Province, and administers eight counties as well as one provincially economic and technological development zone. Accounting for 1228 square kilometers, Heze has a population of 8.64 million. Reputed as “the hometown of peony”, it has received many other honorable titles, such as “the city of calligraphy”, “the city of Opera”, and “the city of martial arts”.

Heze is endowed with rich cultural relics. There are over 100 places of interests, such as Raowang Mausoleum, Baishi Terri, Sun Bin Tourist City, and Fangshan Ruins, etc. Since it is adjacent to many provinces and located at the communication center of East China and West China, Heze enjoys developed trade and commerce and is well known as a distributing center of materials. Now it has been recognized, for many times, as one of the most important center of politics, economy, and culture of Shandong. Heze is a cradle of many outstanding figures and celebrities in ancient times. Cultural relics here are unique in style. For instance, Qingqiufutui Ruins is a representative site of Primeval Clan Culture in New Stone Age. It is here in history that Sun Bin, a famous master on war in the period of Three Kingdoms, defeated and captured Pang Juan, another excellent General of the same period. ‘The Platform of Conferring Generals by Huang Chao” is where the Uprising led Huang Chao against the Rule of Tang Dynasty was initiated. During the War of Liberation in China, Heze witnessed famous battles like Dayanghu Battle and Shatu Battle. The rich and colorful ancient culture has nurtured a lot of outstanding historical figures. For instance, the famous doctor and politician Yi Yin, Militarist Sun Bin, Philosopher Zhuang Zhou, and Master of Agriculture Fan Sheng, etc. Moreover, Heze is also the birthplace of Ran Yong (also called Kong Gong), a student of Confucius (551-471 BC) and the hometown of famous politician Bian Hu in Jin Dynasty. Ranzi Temple and Bian Hu Ancestral Temple are well retained with their ancient, plain style.